Zach Strief: Helmet rule is a good thing

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Saints offensive lineman Zach Strief tells WWL's Kristian Garic that despite the outcry from fans about the new &quot;helmet rule,” he thinks it is a rational safety measure.
“I'm never going to disagree with a rule that is designed to ...

Saints offensive lineman Zach Strief tells WWL's Kristian Garic that despite the outcry from fans about the new "helmet rule,” he thinks it is a rational safety measure.

“I'm never going to disagree with a rule that is designed to increase the safety of the game,” Strief said. “I think there's one overwhelming thing that's kind of been overlooked, and that's the actual reading of the rule...You cannot lead with the crown of your helmet. If you're trying to prevent running backs from lowering their head, not to protect themselves, not to lower their pads..but purely in order to make contact with the top of their head, I'm very much in support of it.”

Click HERE to listen to Kristian’s full interview with Zach Strief.

Strief acknowledges, though, that it’s going to be a hard rule to officiate.

“I think it's going to be very tough on officials. But the rule does not say that you can't lower your head, it says you can't iniitate contact with the crown of your helmet, which is essentially the very top of your head. So it's not only going to protect running backs, it's going to protect defensive players, which I think the guys that have largely been overlooked in this push for player safety.”

#64 says he’s heard the complaints from the fans.

“I understand the arguments against it...that people are afraid that it's going to reduce the physicality of the sport. But people that feel that way, I would invite to try and get down to the field as close as you can, and see what's happening close up, and tell me it's not physical enough.”

And for fans who ask…Is it still football with all the new safety measures?

"What is football? It's a sport, it's a game. It has become our living, but it's essentially in existence for the entertainment of people. And if you don't feel like it's important to protect the safety, the well-being of the guys playing the game, then it's not a sport any more. It becomes something more extreme than that, you believe it's sort of a modern-day gladiator, a modern-day arena."

Hey Zach, maybe you should think past the end of your face mask. Nobody said the game isn't physical enough. The problem is that nearly every type of hard contact is a penalty now. It makes it nearly impossible to play the game full speed without getting penalized, which consequently disrupts the flow of the game. Games should never be decided by someone being "too physical".

Hey Zach, maybe you should think past the end of your face mask. Nobody said the game isn't physical enough. The problem is that nearly every type of hard contact is a penalty now. It makes it nearly impossible to play the game full speed without getting penalized, which consequently disrupts the flow of the game. Games should never be decided by someone being "too physical".

Don't agree at all, there are never any excuse for spearing, it has only been legal for RBs until now and now its taken away for the too, as it should be. Spearing is one of the most dangerous things you can do on a football field, a very easy way to injure your own neck or give your opponent a concussion.

Not lowering your head is the singular most important thing to teach kids when they start playing.

Don't agree at all, there are never any excuse for spearing, it has only been legal for RBs until now and now its taken away for the too, as it should be. Spearing is one of the most dangerous things you can do on a football field, a very easy way to injure your own neck or give your opponent a concussion.

Not lowering your head is the singular most important thing to teach kids when they start playing.

Disagree as you wish. It doesn't make you right. If someone wants to put themselves at risk, that should be their prerogative. There are lots of ways to get hurt playing football. That is what makes all these rules changes for "safety" in the last several years so hypocritical.

Guys are going to get hurt, and that's unfortunately the way it is. They make plenty of money for their trouble. If you don't want to get hurt, don't play. You're missing the most important point here... When guys are lowering their shoulders, trying to break tackles, what do you suppose is naturally going to happen? Their head will lower right with it. Now, because of this rule, they will be penalized for that.

You're assuming that I'm talking about "spearing". That play doesn't happen very often, as it hurts both players involved. A lot of times it's an inadvertent thing. But that won't matter. It's a judgement call, and like all penalties of judgement, the refs will rule intent to injure every single time they see helmet contact. Defenders get unfairly flagged all the time, and now it's going to get worse.

Is this what you want for "safety"? Not me. You want to play flag football, teach your kids to play that. Football is a contact sport.

Leading with the crown of the helmet should not be legal. Leading with the crown is very bad form and taught against at all levels of the game.

When you lead with the crown it changes the mechanics of the impact and the force. When a player leads with their facemask the impact is softened through the mechanics.. the head goes back and the body tends to upright, When a player leads with the crown it is essentially a spearing move and there is no "give". This has absolutely nothing with lowering the shoulder, and a player that does it is not very bright as once the crown is lowered he can not see where he is going or what he is hitting.

When a defender lowers to make a tackle and the RB lowers but leads with the facemask there is a deflection from facemask to facemask contact. When the RB lowers his crown he tends to put his helmet on the chin of the defender.

Leading with the crown of the helmet should not be legal. Leading with the crown is very bad form and taught against at all levels of the game.

When you lead with the crown it changes the mechanics of the impact and the force. When a player leads with their facemask the impact is softened through the mechanics.. the head goes back and the body tends to upright, When a player leads with the crown it is essentially a spearing move and there is no "give". This has absolutely nothing with lowering the shoulder, and a player that does it is not very bright as once the crown is lowered he can not see where he is going or what he is hitting.

When a defender lowers to make a tackle and the RB lowers but leads with the facemask there is a deflection from facemask to facemask contact. When the RB lowers his crown he tends to put his helmet on the chin of the defender.

Strief is correct and on point, and the rule is justified.

Enforcement of the rule is an entirely different conversation.

I understand the physics of all kinds of contact. I don't need a lesson on it. Referees will not care what part of the helmet it is. When the game is going full speed, which is 100% of the time, refs often don't notice the specifics. Any hard contact to the helmet will result in a whiplash effect. Whether it's face mask or the crown. Refs will react to the sound and the movement.

Enforcement of the rule is not a different discussion. It's precisely what my point is all about. When you make rules like this, you end up with nothing but poor calls, all day long.

Isn't there already an NFL rule about spearing, which appears to be what they're describing?

SPEARING
Article 8(f) states in pertinent part:

"If a player uses any part of his helmet (including the top/crown and forehead/”hairline” parts) or facemask to butt, spear, or ram an opponent violently or unnecessarily. Although such violent or unnecessary use of the helmet and facemask is impermissible against any opponent, game officials will give special attention in administering this rule to protecting those players who are in virtually defenseless postures . . ."